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June 26, 2025 25 mins

Ecclesia Director of Family Apprenticeship, Alisa Kuppe, offers us a vision of young people leading Christ's body and an invitation to stay young in the love of Christ. 

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Romans 12, 1 through 2, a living sacrifice.
Therefore, I urge you, brothersand sisters, in view of God's
mercy, to offer your bodies as aliving sacrifice, holy and
pleasing to God.
This is your true and properworship.
Do not conform to the patternof this world, but be

(00:21):
transformed by the renewing ofyour mind.
World, but be transformed bythe renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to testand improve what God's will is
his good and pleasing andperfect will.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Hi guys, I'm Alisa, good morning.
I'm the director of familydiscipleship here at Ecclesia
and that was Jalen just now, myincredible, sweet son.
You can go to the next slide sothat they remember his face and

(00:54):
you would never know it.
But Jalen was not able to readuntil fourth grade.
He is defined by so many thingshis talent in art, his love for
caring children and histhoughtfulness for friends and
more recently, his participationin mountain biking.
And we know that his future isbright and we always knew.

(01:16):
But for so long he bouncedbetween all the elementary
schools in our school district.
They just couldn't figure outhow to make those words, you
know, just make sense in hishead and reading was something
that just didn't compute untilfinally he landed in, actually,
the elementary school that was ablock away from us and of

(01:41):
course I give credit to Jalen'ssuper hard work.
But his teachers and the schooldistrict came around him and he
began to read in fourth gradeand now he reads novels of all
levels and I would not besurprised if he ended up writing
a novel himself someday.
But the point is, I've learnedso much from Jalen and he

(02:05):
teaches me every day aboutChrist-likeness and each day I
realize how little patience, howlittle focus I can have and how
very limited in my humanness Iam, and I would not be surprised
if you know, or sorry, and Ijust realized that I really need

(02:26):
God to fill in these gaps.
So Christlikeness is what we'regoing to learn about today, and
I'm encouraging our churchtoday of all ages to look to our
youth, to see how we can bemore like Jesus.
When I was asked to give thismessage, I have to admit there
was a lot of hesitation for meto say yes.

(02:47):
A lot of our staff are notpresent today, obviously, and I
wanted to help, but in a worldwhere most people use youth
ministry as a stepping stone, Ihave stayed For about 20 years.
I've worked with children ofall ages, from infant to
teenager.

(03:07):
I've driven girls to centers todeal with their eating
disorders.
I've had students live in ourhouse because their home was not
safe.
We've taken 40 students to thePhilippines to serve in
orphanages, to the Philippinesto serve in orphanages, and what
we've witnessed in every singleone of these scenarios is God

(03:29):
is very present in these kids'lives and he transforms their
hearts, and what I see is theyhaven't hardened their hearts in
the ways of the world, theyhaven't forgotten about the
goodness of God, and they alsohave this beautiful confidence
that I'm going to talk about ina little bit, that I've heard

(03:51):
called consecrated confidence,and that has not been torn down
yet by the lies of others.
Regardless of these firsthandstories, though, and the
witnessing of God transformingkids' lives, a lot of people
consider our career with youthas less than, and I know because

(04:12):
, when we came back afterworking for four years in youth
ministry, we got no jobs, so weended up having to start our own
business.
I felt that hesitation, like Isaid, though.
So here I am, though, decidingto say yes, and I felt like I
needed to qualify my message andbeing able to give it, but I'm

(04:34):
not going to.
I'm just going to stand heresaying that I am a teacher of
these children and I'm a mother,and I want to just boldly
remind you what it could be liketo be Christ-like if we follow
and take a look at our youngergeneration.
So it's so funny that we'vebeen discussing Romans 12 last

(04:54):
week, because one of the thingsthat I felt very much called to
talk about was how we seeyounger generations be a part of
what are called revivals.
I did not grow up in the churchso I did not really know much
about what revivals were, butyou know, a time when

(05:17):
individuals experience aspiritual renewal with a
newfound focus on Christ is adefinition that I came upon by
Dr Joseph Castleberry.
He's the president of theNorthwest University and he
describes also, you know,passages in like Acts 2,
basically like a movement of theSpirit, thousands coming to

(05:38):
Jesus, sometimes radicalforgiveness, but there's actual
revivals that have happened herein the US and around the world.
Right now there's some youngergenerations leading some
revivals in Iran.
There's some wild thingshappening out there.
So I wanted to focus in on someof the qualities that I feel

(05:59):
like I find during theserevivals.
I feel like it's a time ofhumility.
You see that the people inthese revivals are hungering for
more, and it is a movementoften that involves the youth.
So on February 8th this is anactual photo from what happened.

(06:20):
2023, so just a couple years agohappened 2023, so just a couple
years ago there was anoutpouring, and this happened at
Asbury University in Wilmore,kentucky.
The passage was Romans 12.
That had just been discussedand, after he sat down, texted

(06:42):
his wife.
That was a terrible sermon.
People just stayed and theyouth just continued to worship
and pray and for 16 days thiscontinued and this is the most
recent so-called revival thatkind of occurred and in his book

(07:05):
, lower Zach Meerkrebs explainsthat during this time.
You know he gave the message,but it wasn't him.
It was so student-led and Ifind that fascinating.
Why does God continue to use theyounger generations to lead the

(07:25):
way for his kingdom?
What about?
Youth creates movement thatimpacts thousands.
I think you know, while we sitin here and talk about all the
big, important things, likewe're doing really important
work back there with ourchildren, and we have to
remember that with our children,and we have to remember that

(07:47):
and there are some qualitiesabout children that I would like
to discuss that I think, ismaybe a key.
So, first thing, children andtheir hunger to serve and help.
In Philippians 2.3, it says Donothing out of selfish ambition
or vain conceit.
Rather, in humility, valueothers above yourselves, not

(08:08):
looking to your own interest,but each of you to the interest
of others.
Have you ever asked a child tobe your helper?
It's like a little trick.
Be like will you be my littlehelper.
In our corner over there weoften have a lamination station.
This station is very coveted.

(08:29):
There are full-on fights aboutbeing my lamination helper and I
think that this is pointing tojust something.
You know we might chuckle, butwhen was the last time that you
fought to help, like how eagerare you to serve and help

(08:51):
somebody?
Like, are you fighting yourpartner to wash those dishes?
Maybe in another way, but Ijust I find it very unique that
in our younger generation, a lotof times they have this
eagerness to help and it's abeautiful way that we could be

(09:13):
more like Christ.
The other one is a memory likeour children.
Have you ever watched a moviewith a child and then, three
years later, they ask you toremember the most obscure scene
in minute 48 of I don't knowsaid movie?

(09:33):
My husband still has a memorylike that and I'm like I have no
idea what you're talking about,but this memory to remember is
so important.
What happens when our memoriesstart to fail us?
I think that as we get older,we can forget about the goodness

(09:59):
of God and, simply put, I thinkthat if we had a memory like
children, we would be able toreally retell these things to
others in a special way, and Ithink that that's very valuable.
It's also kind of two ways whata gift, as you get older, to be

(10:22):
able to tell these youngergenerations about these ways
that God has put together thefabric of your life.
In Deuteronomy 32.7, it saysRemember the days of old,
consider the generations longpast, ask your father and he
will tell you your elders andthey will explain to you.

(10:46):
May our church be one thatremembers and carries the
goodness of God with us always.
We have a prayer team that'sbeen praying for so many things
for us and in our family.
Personally, we have had someprayers really answered in the
last year and I don't want toforget that.

(11:07):
If I forget in five years howhard it was in this last year
and how these prayers wereanswered, then what a loss.
So I pray that we have a memorylike children.
Another characteristicforgiveness.
Like children.
Now, I'm not saying they alwaysforgive easily, they don't

(11:30):
always.
However, oftentimes, if they goto bed and wake up, usually
they're pretty cheerful andhalf-forgiven in just a
beautiful way.
I grew up in a home where werarely said sorry when I
confronted my father aboutfinding some divorce documents

(11:50):
on his computer that he wastrying to hide.
That was the first time I heardhim say sorry, but the way that
he said it was I'm sorry.
I have to do this before it'stoo late, so I don't know if I
can even count that as anapology, and forgiveness now is
so hard for me.
But seeing my children and theyounger generation forgive in

(12:15):
beautiful ways, I think that isradical forgiveness and it is an
example of Christ.
Obviously God has forgiven us,but what we see in these revival
situations is there's this wildforgiveness that sweeps through
them and they talk about at theAsbury event how there were

(12:37):
kids that were in conflicttogether and they forgave and
were singing together andworshiping.
How amazing would it be if wewere radically forgiving the
people in our lives.
Even for me, how amazing wouldit be to be able to talk with my
father and forgive him indeeper ways, which I have to do

(13:00):
every day, but still, I wantthat to be a marker for ecclesia
.
Finally, oh, also confidence.
I talked about this consecratedconfidence.
I think that sometimes in thisworld it feels like humility and

(13:21):
confidence have to be at oddswith each other, and I don't
think that's the case.
I think pride maybe right, butI think that this is different
when you see some children andtheir confidence oh man, I don't
want to take that down.
Confidence oh man, I don't wantto take that down.

(13:43):
The other day I saw my daughterkind of just tie up her hair,
real simply, and look at herselfand be like I look good.
I was like, yeah, you lookgreat.
And you know, there's this videothat went viral maybe like a
little less than 10 years ago,went viral maybe like a little

(14:05):
less than 10 years ago, and itwas a video where they asked 50
people Half of them were adultsand half of them were children.
So the first group is alladults and the one question they
asked them was if you couldchange one thing about your body
, what would it be?
Maybe some of you guys haveseen this video and all the

(14:26):
adults answer in pretty muchlike negative ways.
One of them says my forehead,it's so big, I would love to
have a smaller forehead.
Another mom says I've gotstretch marks, I had three
babies.
And then the kids come and thekids are like hmm, I will love a

(14:49):
mermaid tail, and you're like,yes.
And then another person goesthis sweet girl's like can I put
teleportation in my body?
And it's.
I know this is just like sosweet and how is this related.

(15:09):
But it's this confidence thatkids have and they haven't been
told by the world that theirbodies are not perfect enough,
that they're not enough,basically, with how they've been
created and that they are notbeautiful.
And I think that just becauseyou have humility doesn't mean

(15:32):
that you can't be confident.
And I found this termconsecrated confidence where
Zach Meerkrebs, again from hisbook, was talking about Jesus.
When you know, in Luke 2, as a12-year-old, you know we have
few accounts of him as a youngchild and he was lost by his

(15:56):
parents for a few days in thetemple right, and then his
parents find him and he's, likeyou know, confident in where he
was.
He's basically like I'm in myfather's house, this is where I
belong, this is who I am, andwhat a beautiful thing for us to
have this confidence that isbold because we know we are a

(16:21):
child of God, we know we arecreated beautifully and we have
a purpose.
And may we be bold with thatknowledge and, of course, humble
.
Of course we need to still behumble and keep going lower in
the name of Jesus, knowing thathe and God.
That is what brings thatboldness and brings us strength.

(16:46):
But finally, I think that onething that we could also do is
be healing to others, likechildren.
Have you ever held a littlebaby to your heart, a fresh
newborn?
Just the sweetness of that, thetenderness that that brings.
Did you know that in Europesometimes they have little

(17:11):
children go on field trips tonursing homes so that they can
play together?
Did you also know that thereare some research studies
showing that older adults whoprovide occasional child care
actually live longer?
I think that when Jesus said inMatthew 18, what I'm about to

(17:36):
tell you is true you need tochange and become like little
children.
If you don't, you will neverenter the kingdom of heaven.
I think that's very, very true.
We need to be like Christ bybeing like children.
In these ways, how can we healothers?

(17:59):
How can we bring a holy peaceinto somebody's life?
How can we love unconditionally, radically forgive and be bold?
How can we do those things?
Ultimately, church.
I hope that we will hunger formore church.

(18:25):
I hope that we will hunger formore May we realize that as we
get older, we're more distractedand I feel like we're just
disinterested in growing.
I'm at that lovely age where Iget all the promos for the
anti-aging serums.
I know we're not interested ingrowing in certain ways, but
I've also seen some beautifulexamples, like I don't know if

(18:48):
you've heard of Pamela Andersonwho's gone no makeup.
What a what a just radicalshift right and how embracing
getting older.
I think that is okay, but alsolike let's grow by looking at
our younger generations.

(19:08):
Gk Chesterton says this quoteand I know Ian's quoted it
before.
But because children haveabounding vitality, because
they're in spirit, fierce andfree, therefore they want things
repeated and unchanged.
They always say do it again,and the grown-up person does it
again until he is nearly dead.
For grown-up people are notstrong enough to exult in

(19:32):
monotony.
But perhaps God is strongenough to exult in monotony.
It's possible that God saysevery morning, do it again to
the sun and every evening do itagain to the moon.
It may not be automaticnecessity that makes all daisies
alike.
It may be that God makes everydaisy separately but has never

(19:55):
gotten tired of making them.
It may be that he has theeternal appetite of infancy.
I love that, for we have sinnedand grown old and our father is
younger than we.
To imagine God being youngerthan us, oh, that's just wild.

(20:18):
To have the appetite of infancyor the boldness to knock on our
father's door for milk in themiddle of the night, these are
the things that I imagine for usbeing bold as a youth, as a
child, as a youth as a child.

(20:38):
And as CS Lewis said, it wouldseem that our Lord finds our
desires not too strong but tooweak.
We are half-hearted creatures,fooling about with drink and sex
and ambition.
When infinite joy is offered tous, like an ignorant child who
wants to go on making mud piesin the slum because he cannot

(21:02):
imagine what is meant to be bythe offering of a holiday at the
sea, we are far too easilypleased.
I think.
We just think that this isenough, that where we've landed,
we've arrived, and also maybewe have a lot going on in our

(21:26):
lives, and I get it thatsometimes we have a lot of heavy
things going on in our lives.
I really am in that place andknow that sometimes we can't
focus on other things and that'sokay.
A no, that sometimes we can'tfocus on other things and that's
okay.
I just am asking that perhapstake a look at even the
multi-generational things herein this church and have a fun

(21:49):
conversation with one of ourchildren while they eat a donut.
They might surprise you, and Ithink it's a beautiful thing.
I hope that this message isjust a simple reminder that we
all need each other.
As a larger church, familyIntergenerational relationships

(22:10):
are actually a key to developinga steadfast faith.
In their book Faith for Exiles,there's some staggering
statistics that reveal that onein ten young adults are now
resilient disciples.
The rest just are reallywandering.

(22:30):
Just that 10% are attendingchurch, committing personally to
Christ and show signs as beingresilient.
One of the characteristics thatthe authors found was that they
weren't withdrawing fromculture necessarily that they
were engaging with the heart ofChrist, but because they had

(22:52):
mentors, they had relationshipswith other people of different
ages and they were part of acommunity.
I think that is so critical,not just for our children.
I just had a conversation withIan lamenting how I would love
to be with older generations inthe church and I feel like that

(23:17):
is missing and we need to cravethat.
And we need to crave that andwe need to offer that to our
younger generations too.
I'm excited to hear morestories on how God will bring
fresh life to each of you byconnecting with the younger
generations in the church andthe world, and also how they are

(23:38):
impacted by your outpouringinto them.
We have to remember, though,that Jesus was the ultimate sign
of humility.
God, moving into theneighborhood as a baby, he was
the one that really loweredhimself.
He suffered in ways that werenot deserving of a king.

(23:59):
He was the ultimate example ofbecoming less for the greater
good.
He served, and may we be thatexample.
I'm going to ask the worshipteam to come on up here as we
wrap up.
I have a benediction for us.

(24:20):
I know that we're not quitedone, but I feel like this is
the beginning of the legacy thatour church can have within this
community, that it may besomething that they talk about.
What did Ecclesia do?
They were a church family.
I know family can be triggering.
Sometimes.
There's hard stuff.

(24:41):
Like I said, I experienced thattoo, but I'm so excited for
what this church can be likewhen we work with all the ages
and value all of them and remindthem that they are loved,
because you are loved too, andyou are able to do amazing
things when you are justfocusing your attention on Jesus

(25:02):
.
So my benediction is this MayGod surprise you this week with
laughter.
May he surprise you withsilence.
May he also provide a preciousvoice of a child.
May revival begin not out there, but also in us, here in our

(25:30):
hearts.
May your life be a livingsacrifice, holy and pleasing,
and may you go with grace.
May you go with god, amen.
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